Riverview High School in Sarasota, FL was designed by Paul Rudolph, world renowned architect. The building is threatened with demolition as the Sarasota School Board looks at options for updating the Riverview campus. It is hoped that by publicizing the potential destruction of the significant building a way can be found to save it.

Tuesday, May 09, 2006

SAVE Riverview Community Meeting

Dear readers:

You are probably aware of the Sarasota School Board’s plan to renovate the Riverview High School Campus. The current proposal calls for a phased demolition of essentially the entire campus followed by construction of new buildings.

You are also probably aware of the architectural and historical significance of the Paul Rudolph designed buildings at Riverview - a building that would be demolished under the current plan.

A group of local architects has established a task force to see what could be done to save the main Rudolph building. This group now includes several community members that have this same interest. The group has met twice with the School Superintendent and School Board President looking for a path that could meet the school system’s requirements yet save the Rudolph building.We are still pursuing options that seem acceptable.

The school system leadership has challenged us to show community support for this objective.

To this end we have scheduled a meeting to tell the community what we have been doing, why we think this is important and to ask for support. Readers of this blog are likely be supportive of this effort. Thus we would like to ask you to attend the meeting if your schedule permits. Feel free to invite a colleague or someone else you know that might be interested in helping find a way to save this important community building.

The task force includes architects Carl Abbott, James Bowen, Joe King, Guy Peterson and Mark Ramaeker; community members include Mollie Cardamone, Dick Clapp and Janice Green.

We have a meeting scheduled for 8 AM, on Thursday May 11 at the new Sarasota Herald Tribune building (Main St) Community Room. We will be telling our story and looking for you support. Please attend if possible.

Information about the school board proposal and the Rudolph building can be found at these links: